OnTheMarket takes on Rightmove with launch of market intelligence features

Property portal OnTheMarket has thrown down the challenge to Rightmove by launching two new features for its listing agents.

The first, Market Intel, is a dashboard which calculates competitor rankings and displays market share performance by location, property value or type.

The dashboard, which matches what Rightmove already offers, also makes it easier for agents to see how they and their properties are performing, as well as checking the number of phone and email leads they receive.

The Market Intel feature also includes a tool called Sales Monitor, which OnTheMarket says is not available on Rightmove.

The tool aims to help agents determine whether a withdrawn property was sold while still subject to a contract with them under which fees might be due.

It automatically checks withdrawn properties against Land Registry sales to highlight potential matches, allowing agents to create alerts to receive updates.

Agents can use Market Intel to create customised sales and lettings reports which demonstrate their position within their local market at branch level.

OnTheMarket says agents can use these reports in valuations and market appraisals to increase vendor and landlord confidence and that they can be created with an agent’s own branding in conjunction with the portal’s.

The suite is included with agents' listing fees at no additional cost. It has also been beta tested with OnTheMarket agents and refined in line with their feedback.

Market Intel allows agents to view their performance across the number of properties currently available in their patch, the number recently sold or let or new instructions gained.

They can also view opportunities where local properties have reduced in price, fallen through or are slow to move on the market.

Agents can create their own geographical patch and all figures relate to the previous 28 days by default. Users can also see the number of email and phone leads received and check to see how many times live properties have featured in the search results and how many times the details have been viewed.

"These tools are all intended to help OnTheMarket agents reduce their reliance on Rightmove and other portals," says Ian Springett, OnTheMarket's chief executive officer.

"By using them with vendors and landlords, they will be reinforcing OnTheMarket's brand and encouraging them to use the website, which in turn will continue to accelerate the growth of the UK's agent-backed portal."

"We have already achieved much to close the gap between OnTheMarket and the previous effective duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla and we have every intention of creating a viable alternative for agents and property-seekers alike," he says.

OnTheMarket is set to publish its latest figures to the stock market this Thursday (October 10).